Archive of Our Own

“It’s really good to have you back in the dorms again, Hyuck,” Mark says sincerely, smiling at the sight of Donghyuck splayed out on his bed. “Jaehyun hyung has been painfully bored without you in the room to keep him company at nighttime.”

“Of course he was. I’d miss me too,” Donghyuck scoffs, and Mark rolls his eyes, albeit fondly. “Anyway, I’m going to need you help me to unpack all of my clothes and things, you know. I’m asking you since you’re the only one here.”

“Sure, we can do that later,” Mark says agreeably. “So, what do you want to do until the others get back from vocal practice? I think we’ve still got about half an hour to go.”

Donghyuck doesn’t respond immediately, letting his head fall back onto his stack of pillows as he closes his eyes in thought. Mark’s first feeling is relief- relief at seeing his best friend back in one piece, healthy and happy, and most importantly, without that stupid cast around his leg any longer.

His second feeling, however. It isn’t as wholesome.

Donghyuck opens his eyes before Mark can follow that train of thought. “You know what, Lee Mark,” he says, sitting up. His eyes have narrowed in a challenging sort of way, and Mark instinctively knows that whatever Donghyuck is about to say isn’t going to be anything good. “We should make out.”

Mark chokes.

“Sorry,” he sputters, in between coughs. “What? ”

“Look, I knew you’d react like this,” Donghyuck says in a businesslike tone. “But think about it. We have like, a whole half an hour to kill. I’m bored and deprived of physical affection since I’ve been at home for four months. I’m beautiful, and you’ve always been attractive. So why not?”

Mark gapes at Donghyuck confusedly, not understanding anything that the younger boy has just said. Is this a dream of some sort? Is that why everything is so strange?

“No, it isn’t,” Donghyuck replies, causing Mark to realise belatedly that he had voiced his thoughts aloud. “If you look past our friendship, you’ll realise that this really is no big deal.”

“You...sound like you’ve put some thought into this,” Mark says. Donghyuck’s cheeks colour, but he doesn’t refute Mark’s point. “I’m not sure, Hyuck.”

“Come on, even Jeno and Jaemin have made out. Why can’t we?” Donghyuck’s pouting now, which isn’t good news for Mark’s resolve. Wait-

“Jeno and Jaemin have-”

“Come on, Mark, are you really surprised that Jeno and Jaemin have made out?”

Mark pauses and thinks about it for long enough to come to the conclusion that no, he is not surprised that Jeno and Jaemin have apparently made out. Donghyuck’s staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes now, the same pout still adorning his lips. Lips, which look distractingly kissable, at this point. Not that Mark’s not thought about kissing Donghyuck’s lips before. But that’s a whole other problem to face at a different time.

“-so how do we do this?” Donghyuck is saying, once Mark snaps back into reality.

“Uh,” he says dumbly. “What?”

“Well, you were staring at my lips for a good minute there,” Donghyuck replies in a matter-of-fact tone. Mark feels himself flush- was he really being that obvious? “So I went ahead and assumed that we’re both consenting to partaking in this activity.”

“I…” There are a million reasons as to why this is a bad idea, with Mark’s not-entirely-platonic feelings towards Donghyuck topping the list. But Donghyuck’s lips really do look so fucking kissable. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Donghyuck’s eyebrows have gone up, like he’s surprised, or something. Mark nods minutely.

And then he’s being shoved backwards. Donghyuck’s flung himself across the bed, right onto Mark’s lap, where he settles himself comfortably. Mark’s brain isn’t contributing anything useful to the situation at hand, so his body takes control instead, his hands coming up to wrap around Donghyuck’s waist gently.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” Donghyuck murmurs. Mark answers by leaning up and sealing their lips together.

For all the times that Mark has imagined this, he’d never quite accounted for: one, how inexperienced the two of them would be and two, how exhilarating it feels to kiss your very best friend. Their noses bump against one another repeatedly until Donghyuck huffs and tilts his head, slotting their mouths together in a more comfortable manner. Mark finds one of his hands trailing up Donghyuck’s back and into his hair, fingers tangling into the soft strands.

It’s an odd, foreign feeling, but all Mark knows is that he wants it to happen again. Eventually, Donghyuck runs out of breath and he pulls back, arms settling around Mark’s shoulders.

They stare at each other, wide-eyed.

“Is your…” Mark begins. “Is your leg okay?” he gestures to where Donghyuck’s legs are still wrapped around his own torso. Donghyuck huffs out a breathy laugh.

“Trust you to still be concerned about my wellbeing after we’ve just made out for the first time, Mark Lee,” he says, and Mark flushes at the reminder of what they’d just done. “I’m fine, hyung, really.”

“That’s good,” Mark says faintly. His eyes trail towards Donghyuck’s neck, a smooth expanse of honey toned skin, and thinks about leaving a hickey there for a brief moment. The thought of being able to be the one to mark Donghyuck leaves Mark feeling-

“Hey, we’re back!” It’s Jaehyun, shouting from the doorway. Donghyuck curses and throws himself off Mark immediately, returning to his corner of the bed while trying to tame his hair and clothes. There’s a knock on the door, and Jaehyun walks in.

“Haechannie,” their hyung smiles warmly, opening his arms. Mark watches with a small smile as Donghyuck falls into Jaehyun’s embrace openly. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, hyung,” Donghyuck’s voice is muffled by Jaehyun’s sweater.

“Hey, you’re really sweaty,” Jaehyun says, tone concerned. “So are you, Mark. Are you guys okay?”

Donghyuck detaches himself from Jaehyun, turns to Mark, and stares at him in what looks to be a clear, desperate plea for help. Mark clears his throat.

“It’s very near...summertime,” Mark ends up saying. “Wow, can’t you feel the heat right now?”

Jaehyun shoots a sideways glance to his digital clock. The one that reads ‘TEMPERATURE IN SEOUL: 10 DEGREES CELSIUS’ in bold, blocky letters.

“Sure,” he says, finally. Mark doesn’t have time to dwell on his own stupidity, because the rest of their members come barrelling in, all trying to simultaneously smother Donghyuck in affection at the same time.

The phantom feeling of lips against Mark’s skin still lingers.

“So, you and Jaemin have made out before?” In retrospect, this may not have been one of Mark’s wiser choices when it comes to conversation starters, if anything can be said by the way that Jeno chokes on his rice.

“What the fuck, Mark hyung,” he says after Mark has passed him a glass of water and he’s downed half of its contents. “How did you know that?”

“Um,” Mark starts, but Jeno shakes his head.

“Forget I even asked, of course Donghyuck told you. When I get my hands on him…” he trails off, muttering darkly, and Mark gets the feeling that Jeno isn’t talking to him anymore.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” he says, trying to sound as casual as he can. “How many times have you two…”

Jeno’s cheeks colour instantly. “Why do you need to know? It doesn’t affect you, or anyone but us, for that matter.” He sounds defiant, and Mark backtracks quickly.

“No, I’m completely fine with what you choose to do in your free time,” he reaffirms, and Jeno relaxes fractionally. “I’m just asking because, DonghyuckandImighthavemadeout?” he says the last part of his sentence in one quick breath.

“Sorry, what? ”

“Donghyuck and I made out earlier,” Mark says, slower. Jeno looks at him with unconcealed surprise.

“You made out with Donghyuck,” Jeno repeats. “And you…”

“I liked it,” Mark confirms. “Do you think I should ask him if he wants to do it again?”

Jeno pushes his rice away, looking highly confused. “So you like him?” he questions.

“I-” Mark thinks of denying it, but at this point, what does he have to lose, really? “I do like him,” he admits. “Honestly, being able to kiss him is more than I’d ever thought I’d be able to do. His lips are really soft, you know.”

“Okay, first of all, I did not need to know that,” Jeno wrinkles his nose in distaste. “And second, you’re going to discuss your relationship status with him, right? I don’t want either of you to get hurt over any misunderstandings.”

“Uh, sure,” Mark says in reply. “Is that what you did with Jaemin?”

Jeno goes suspiciously quiet. “Wait, you haven’t told Jaemin you like him? So we’re both in the same boat here?”

“Shut up, hyung,” Jeno hisses. “He might hear.”

“You’re dumb, Jeno-yah,” Mark says, as he gets up. “Anyway, thanks for the talk. I’ll see you later.”

As it turns out, Mark doesn’t even have to ask first.

“So,” Donghyuck says, barging into Mark’s room one day. “When are we going to do it again?”

Immediately, Mark knows what Donghyuck is referring to. “You want to do it again?” he asks. “I wasn’t sure if you would want to, you know.”

“Of course I do, Minhyungie. The way you- oh hey, Doyoung hyung,” Donghyuck’s expression changes into one of faux innocence, as he beams at Doyoung, who Mark has now noticed is standing in the doorway of the room with his arms crossed.

“What were you kids talking about?” Doyoung asks, eyes narrowed.

“NOTHING,” Mark says loudly, as Donghyuck goes “Uh, GAMING,” at a volume to match. Doyoung looks between the two of them and sighs deeply, giving off the strong impression of a tired parent.

“Keep your secrets, I guess,” he says. “Anyway, I’m surprised you aren’t all over Mark like you usually are, Haechannie. Has your time at home made you crave affection less?”

Pin-drop silence. Mark’s brain helpfully supplies him, once again, with a mental image of Donghyuck, tanned skin sweaty and warm, breathing coming in short bursts as Mark trails kisses along his jaw.

“...no,” Donghyuck says, after an unnaturally long pause. “I still love to...touch Mark hyung.”

Doyoung cocks an eyebrow, eyes flickering between them once more. “You know what. I’ll just…” he backs out of the room quickly, closing the door as he exits.

“That was close,” Mark says feebly. Donghyuck scoffs.

“Mark, if we’re going to keep doing this, we’re going to have to act more natural about it. It’s not like our relationship is changing or anything, we’re just adding some kissing to the mix.”

Well there are Mark’s answers to his unasked questions- yes, they will be doing this more often, and no, they are nothing more than friends who share a kiss on occasion. In the moment, it honestly seems like a win-win situation to him- he gets to keep his best friend and kiss him too.

“Work on our acting skills, got it,” Mark says. Donghyuck sends him a pretty smile.

“Now,” he says. “Where were we?”

“Hey, Mark,” Johnny says. “Your shirt is on backwards.”

“Really,” Mark says with feigned shock, as he looks down at his attire. “Guess I wasn’t paying attention when I got dressed today.” (In reality, Donghyuck had tugged Mark’s shirt off for the first time as they had been making out earlier, and just as they had been crossing the line into the next territory of kissing, Taeyong had yelled at them to come out for dinner. This had, resultantly, caused Mark to throw on his shirt haphazardly without checking it properly.)

Johnny chuckles and they carry on with their meal. Mark’s leaning over to grab some kimchi, when he feels something trail up his leg. When he looks up, Donghyuck is staring back innocently.

“Mark hyung,” he says, tone saccharine-sweet. “Will you pass me the kimchi?”

“Wow, I’ve never seen Haechan this polite before,” Taeyong mutters under his breath, but it goes unheard as Mark retaliates by dragging his own foot up Donghyuck’s bare calf, relishing in the way the latter’s expression changes minutely in response to the contact. He uses his chopsticks to place some kimchi on a serving plate and slides it over to Donghyuck slowly.

“Here you go, Hyuckie,” he replies. Donghyuck’s trying to fight back with his own feet now, which leads to the two of them glaring at each other while holding onto a tiny plate of kimchi.

“...anyway,” someone says loudly. Mark’s not sure who it is- he thinks it’s Taeil. The table settles back into casual conversation, leaving Mark and Donghyuck alone with their unresolved tension and some kimchi.

“Hey,” Mark says later. “Do you think we were being obvious back there?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “No shit, Sherlock,” he says, tone disdainful. “Now, get your shirt off.”

“Wait, hang on-” Mark begins to say, but he’s interrupted by Donghyuck tugging his own shirt over his head.

Mark’s mouth goes dry. Sure, he’s seen Donghyuck shirtless before- sharing a living space with someone will lead to an awkward walk-in on the other person changing eventually- but never like this , all golden toned with hooded eyes, staring directly at Mark.

“You’re beautiful, Hyuckie,” he manages, after what could be either ten seconds or ten days. Donghyuck looks down bashfully.

“You’re just saying that,” he mutters. “I haven’t been able to work out because of my leg, I know what I look like right now, hyung.”

Mark gapes at the younger. “You don’t seriously think you aren’t gorgeous?” he questions, incredulously. Maybe he’s being a little too sincere here, but Donghyuck is, first and foremost, his best friend, and he deserves to know. “Lee Donghyuck. You are captivating .”

Donghyuck swats at his chest, but there’s no real heat behind the gesture. “You’re not too bad yourself, I suppose,” he says in reply, though his cheeks are pink. “Now, get your damn shirt off before I do it for you.”

Mark complies easily, yanking his shirt off with practiced ease. The moment his own skin is exposed, Donghyuck’s mouth is attached to it, sucking at the skin below his collarbone.

“Hyuck, someone’s going to see,” is all Mark can manage, but Donghyuck ignores him in favour of biting down instead. Mark chooses to direct his focus on grasping at Donghyuck’s back instead, his blunt nails dragging down the younger’s spine. Donghyuck lets out the softest of moans, and embarrassingly enough, Mark can feel himself reacting to it.

And then there’s a knock on the door.

“Hey, why is my door locked?” it’s Jaehyun, voice loud and indignant through the door. “Donghyuck, you can’t lock me out! This is my room too, you know.”

Donghyuck pulls away from Mark’s neck, looking supremely unbothered. “Hang on, hyung,” he calls, as he brings a thumb up to the spot where his teeth had been seconds before, pressing into the newly-formed bruise under Mark’s clavicle.

Mark watches breathlessly as Donghyuck puts his shirt back on. He remembers belatedly to throw his own shirt on as Donghyuck unlocks the door to his room, allowing a disgruntled-looking Jaehyun to enter.

“Oh,” he stops, taking in the scene. “Hi, Mark, I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Yep, I was-” Mark’s voice comes out hoarse, and his eyes widen as he clears his throat. “I was just leaving, hyung! Bye, Hyuck.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before scurrying out of the room, flopping onto the communal couch in the living room.

“Your shirt is still on backwards, you know.”

Mark startles, lifting his head up to see Johnny staring back at him with a knowing look painted across his features.

“Yeah, I guess I forgot again,” he replies in English.

Johnny cocks an eyebrow. “You forget to hide that hickey of yours, too?”

Mark sputters at his hyung’s words, eyes immediately travelling downwards to see the offending bruise in question peeking out from the collar of his shirt. “It’s not-” he tries feebly, giving up when he sees Johnny shaking his head.

“I know a hickey when I see one, Mark,” he says solemnly. “My question is- are you and Donghyuck being safe?”

“Safe?” Mark repeats, horrified. “Wait, you know about Donghyuck and I?”

“Get with the times, Mark. Anyone with eyes can see that you’ve been head over heels for him for ages,” Johnny says. “What I want to know is, are you practicing your relationship in a safe manner or not?”

Normally, Mark would comment on Johnny going all dad-mode on him, but he can’t get over the fact that his crush on Donghyuck is apparently obvious to everyone else. Does this mean Donghyuck knows about it?

Johnny’s still staring at him expectantly, so Mark finally goes: “We aren’t in a relationship.”

Somehow, Johnny’s eyebrows go even higher up at that. “So you’re just…” he trails off, gesturing to Mark’s hickey. Mark shrugs and nods as nonchalantly as possible. “And Donghyuck knows that you’re pretty much in love with him?”

Suddenly, Mark thinks back to his conversation with Jeno, and how the other boy had panicked when Mark had brought up his feelings for Jaemin. He’d thought it to be stupid at the time, but he kind of gets it now.  

“Don’t say that,” he says quietly. He chances a glance around just in case Donghyuck happened to be lurking in the area, and thankfully sees no one.

“Mark, you have to tell him,” Johnny’s looking at him with concern in his eyes now. Great.

“Look, hyung, we have a good thing going here,” Mark tries to defend himself, albeit weakly. “And anyway, Donghyuck’s already made it clear that he doesn’t want to be anything more than whatever we are right now.”

“Are you sure?” Johnny looks doubtful. When Mark nods in reply, he purses his lips, still looking unconvinced.

“Well,” he says. “I can’t force you to do anything. But please be cautious, Mark.”

“Okay, Dad,” Mark responds snarkily. Johnny shoves him in retaliation, but there’s no heat behind it.

They’re in the midst of making out when Donghyuck yawns.

“Did you just yawn?” Mark asks incredulously, pulling away. Donghyuck looks down, embarrassed.

“Hey, we walked around a lot for filming today, okay,” he says defensively. “My leg has been through a lot, it’s tired.”

Any thoughts of continuing their previous activities vanish from Mark’s mind as he looks at his best friend, alarmed. “Go to bed now, Hyuckie,” he says. “I don’t want you to be in pain.”

“You know what, I think I might just do that,” he says, and it’s telling of how badly his leg must be bothering him if he’s agreeing to go to sleep without any sign of protest. “Hold on,” he says, before getting up and leaving the room.

Mark settles back against his pillows, reaching out for his phone. He guesses he won’t be seeing any more of Donghyuck until the next morning, but that’s fine.

He’s proven wrong, though, when to his surprise, Donghyuck returns a few minutes later, dressed in sleepwear and looking freshly washed. He looks so adorable like this, all soft and sleepy, that Mark’s heart actually does something weird in his chest.

“Why are you back?” he asks. “I thought you were heading to bed.”

“I thought I’d sleep with you tonight,” Donghyuck replies simply, climbing into Mark’s bed as if it was his own. “It’s been a while since we’ve done this, right?”

It has, in fact, been quite a while. Mark can’t remember having shared a bed with Donghyuck after the year they debuted, actually. And they certainly weren’t locking lips back then. But Donghyuck looks so comfortable curled up at Mark’s side that he doesn’t have the heart to kick him out.

“Minhyungie,” Donghyuck whines, reaching up and grabbing Mark’s forearm. “Put your phone down and cuddle with me.”

“Why are we doing couple-y things if we aren’t dating?” Mark mutters inaudibly under his breath.

“What?” Donghyuck asks.

“Nothing,” Mark says. He leans over and plugs in his phone to charge for the night before scooching down into his covers. Donghyuck immediately winds his arms around Mark’s torso, burrowing his head into the crook of his neck. Mark wraps one of his own arms around Donghyuck’s shoulders.

Against his better judgement, he tilts his head and presses a chaste kiss to the younger’s forehead.

“Goodnight, Mark hyung,” Donghyuck murmurs.

“Goodnight, Donghyuck-ah,” Mark replies, but his mind is racing even as he falls into slumber. He is so fucked.

Jaemin’s staring at him the next day.

“What?” Mark explodes after five whole minutes of Jaemin eyeing him unabashedly. “Do I have something on my face, Nana?”

Jaemin smiles serenely and goes: “So you and Donghyuck slept together last night.”

“W-what?” Mark stammers. “Who told you that?”

“Well, Doyoung hyung saw you guys and told Jeno, because he loves him,” Jaemin starts. “And Jeno then told me because he loves-” he cuts himself off abruptly. “You know what, never mind how I know that. What matters is you and Donghyuck. ”

Mark glowers at his friend. “There is no ‘Me and Donghyuck’,” he responds waspishly. “All there is is a mutual need to share some affection. We aren’t going to be anything more than that.”

“Please, Mark hyung,” Jaemin rolls his eyes. “We both know that’s a load of bullshit. Why aren’t you telling him how you feel?”

“He is not interested, okay?” Mark snaps, watching as Jaemin recoils at the harsh tone in his words. He stands up, turning on his heel and stalking back to his room without another word to his younger friend. He allows himself to feel remorse for a moment- after all, Jaemin was only trying to look out for him, as any good friend would have done, and Mark had thrown his concern back into his face. He makes a mental note to apologise later.

But right now, as he storms into his room, all he can see is Donghyuck, still curled up under Mark’s sheets, head laying on Mark’s pillow. And Mark wants more.

“Mark hyung?” Donghyuck’s awake, Mark realises. The younger boy is squinting at him. “Are you okay?”

Mark heaves a sigh, raking a hand through his hair nervously. I want to date you for real, he wants to say. But he can’t jeopardise his friendship with Donghyuck for some stupid feelings. Instead, he perches himself on the edge of the bed gingerly.

“Just had a minor fight with Jaeminnie, that’s all,” he says, shrugging.

Donghyuck hums. “What was it about?”

“Oh, nothing important,” Mark says in response. There’s a soft shuffling noise, and then Donghyuck’s sliding forward on the bed, until he’s next to Mark.

“Let me help you forget about it, then,” he murmurs, pressing a feather-light kiss along Mark’s jawline. Mark feels his eyes flutter shut as he bares his neck on instinct in order to give Donghyuck better access to it.

“Hyuck,” he sighs, turning and pulling the younger boy into his lap. Donghyuck’s arms wrap around Mark’s waist automatically as he buries his face into the crook of Mark’s neck. The scene is so painfully domestic that Mark, without really thinking it through, goes: “Donghyuck, what are we?”

Donghyuck pulls away, lightning-quick. “What do you mean, what are we?” he huffs out a laugh. “You’re making it sound like we’re dating, or something.”

Mark’s heart sinks at the words, though he’s not entirely surprised to hear them. He decides to press on anyway. “Well, if you think of it, isn’t that how we’re behaving?” he asks quietly. Donghyuck’s making an effort not to meet his eyes. “We aren’t acting like friends with benefits, Hyuck, we’re acting like we’re in a relationship or something. And honestly, I wouldn’t-” Mark stops- he can’t bring himself to say I wouldn’t mind that out loud just yet.

Donghyuck looks at him with wide eyes, expression laced with guilt, and Mark knows what he’s going to say even before the younger gets off the bed gingerly.

“Mark hyung, I’ve never seen you in...that kind of way,” he says, looking supremely uncomfortable with the direction in which the conversation is heading in. “I thought we were mutually releasing some pent-up tension, that’s all.”

Mark feels his shoulders slump in defeat. “Yeah, I know,” he mutters. “Um, I’m just going to…” he trails off, standing up and walking out of the room.

It’s relatively easy to avoid Donghyuck afterwards, especially as Dream begins the recording process for their first comeback album without Mark. Donghyuck tries reaching out, but after two days of nothing but radio silence from Mark, he seems to give up as well.

“Trouble in paradise?” Johnny asks cheerfully one day. Mark sends him a withering glare. “Okay, jeez, sorry, I just wanted to know why you and Donghyuck have been moping.”

“Donghyuck’s been moping?” Mark doesn’t actually find that all that difficult to believe, but he asks the question anyway.

“He’s been quiet for the last week, much quieter than usual,” Johnny elaborates. Mark’s heart clenches at the thought of his best friend hurting, but he pushes the feeling aside.

“I asked him what we were and he told me he only sees me as a friend,” he admits after a moment. Johnny’s expression softens into one of pity and concern. “It’s okay though, hyung, I’ll get over it. We’ll probably be back to normal in a couple of days, don’t worry.”

“Right now, I’m more worried about you,” Johnny replies. “You’ll come to any one of us if you’re feeling down, right?”

“Sure, hyung,” Mark says, mostly to appease him. He stands up. “I’m going to head to the practice rooms.”

The journey to the practice rooms ends up being shorter than expected, and Mark enters the first one he sees without properly checking if it’s occupied or not. He enters, throws down his backpack, spins around-

And Donghyuck’s there, staring at him with wide, startled eyes.

“Hyung!” he squeaks. He’s clearly been practicing for a while, if anything can be said by the state of his sweat-soaked clothing. “What are you doing here?”

What Mark intends on saying is: “Oh sorry, I didn’t realise you were here. I’m just going to leave.”

What he actually ends up saying is: “Donghyuck, how long have you been practicing? You can’t strain your leg like this, it could be dangerous for you! You’re here alone too, what if you had gotten injured-”

Donghyuck cuts him off, which is all well and good, except for the fact that he does it with his lips, moving forward and capturing Mark’s mouth with his own. It’s been over a week since they’d last talked, and Mark finds himself getting high on Donghyuck’s presence embarrassingly quickly, as the younger boy crowds him against the wall and kisses him fervently.

“I missed you, hyung,” Donghyuck murmurs, as his fingers slip underneath Mark’s shirt, nails digging into the skin of Mark’s lower back. “I really fucking missed you.”

Mark moans throatily, because, well. He’d really fucking missed Donghyuck too. He entwines his hands into Donghyuck’s sweat-damp hair, opening his mouth and letting Donghyuck’s tongue push against his own.

I love you, Mark’s brain goes suddenly. And he can’t take it anymore. He gathers all of his strength and pushes Donghyuck away, ignoring the hurt look in his friend’s eyes.

“I can’t- just- be your friend,” he chokes out, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. “Trust me, I know it would make things easier, but I can’t keep kissing you while pretending that I don’t want more.”

He turns around, picks up his backpack and leaves, not wanting Donghyuck to see the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

“Mark?”

Mark’s well into his third hour of his own personal pity party when Doyoung comes into the room.

“Yeah, hyung?”

“Come with me,” is all Doyoung says, before he drags Mark to what he realises a little too late is Jaehyun and Donghyuck’s room. Doyoung flings open the door before throwing Mark into the room, slamming the door shut after he does so. Donghyuck’s splayed out on his bed, watching the scene with unconcealed bewilderment.

“I’m not fucking letting either of you out of this room until you fix whatever is going on between you two,” Doyoung calls from the other side of the door. “Trust me, you can try, but Jaehyun and I won’t let you out.”

“He’s right, we won’t,” Jaehyun parrots faintly, from outside the room as well. Mark rolls his eyes before turning to Donghyuck, who looks at him beseechingly.

“Hyung. Hear me out, please,” Donghyuck says. Mark nods stiffly. “When I met you, I thought you were the coolest person in the company. And then I got to train with you and debut with you. And as I got to know you, you were still the coolest person in the company to me.”

There’s a pause. Mark’s throat is clenching up uncomfortably.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t really think of you in a romantic sense at the beginning. But then again, I didn’t allow myself to do so,” When Mark looks up, Donghyuck is smiling softly. “But when we started doing whatever it was that we were doing...I realised that I liked it. I liked you, and I wanted more.”

“Hyuck, what are you trying to say?” Mark whispers. He refuses to let the budding hope within him show on his face.

“I’m saying I’m sorry, Mark hyung, and I’d like to give this a shot, if you’ll accept me,” Donghyuck says shyly.

Mark chooses to move forward in lieu of a giving him a verbal response.

“You promise we’ll do this for real this time around?” he asks, raising a hand to cup the younger's cheek gently. Donghyuck nods fervently, and it’s all the answer Mark needs in order for him to press his lips against Donghyuck’s chastely. When he pulls away, Donghyuck moves forward, as if he were being magnetically drawn by Mark’s mouth.

“I'm pretty sure I’ve liked you since before I even knew what it meant to like someone,” he confesses, exhaling shakily as he lets one of his best-kept secrets loose. “I thought I’d be fine with what we had but-”

“I understand, hyung,” Donghyuck interjects. He presses a soft kiss to the corner of Mark’s mouth. “Don’t worry any more- I’ll prove myself every day to you if I have to.”

“Well,” Mark says, as he tugs at the hem of Donghyuck’s shirt insistently. “How about you start proving yourself now?”

(“They’ve been in there for a while,” Jaehyun remarks. He’s leaning against the closed door, staring at his phone listlessly. “Do you think we should go in to check on them?”

“Don’t be daft, you moron,” Doyoung rolls his eyes. “They’re obviously making out again.”

Jaehyun’s eyes narrow. “How do you even know that,” he says flatly.

“They’re horny teenagers, you can’t expect anything else from them,” Doyoung scoffs. “But also, I can hear them moaning.”

“You can?” Jaehyun’s eyebrows knit together. There’s a pause as he presses his ear to the door, before he recoils quickly. “You’re right. I just realised that they are, in fact, moaning.”

“Our work here is done, child,” Doyoung says solemnly. “Our next target has been acquired- it’s time for us to intervene.”

“Our next target?” Jaehyun echoes. “What do you mean?”

Doyoung merely turns towards the communal living room, where Jeno sits on the couch, staring wistfully at Jaemin as he talks to Jungwoo.

“Oh,” Jaehyun says. “Them.”

“Can you believe we have to do everything around here?” Doyoung grasps at Jaehyun’s wrist, tugging him forward. “Come on. We have work to do.”)